Mmmm… Pancake Day

To really honour this day I feel it would be appropriate to devour Pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner… oh and not forgetting dessert. Or is that too greedy? I say we just go with it, besides it only comes around once a year.

As much as pancake mix from the bottle, topped with lemon and sugar is a treat, there are many other equally if not better recipes out there. In fact, whilst staying at my friend Lorraine’s aunt’s house during a trip to Sweden, I was introduced to a unexpectedly scrumptious pancake with bacon mixed-in and strawberry jam spread on top. Horrified by the potentially disastrous combination of ingredients I was willing to give it a go. Before I knew it one bite became three plates licked clean to the sparkle. So I am on a bit of a mission to bring this savoury/sweet take on the Pancake to my house and yours.

Luckily I have had the chance to lie-in on a few Saturdays recently and the TV happened to be on Saturday Kitchen. Being too lazy to switch the channel I become a fan of the programme, mostly because of guests like Larry Lamb and Gok Wan bringing a bit of personality to the show. Well I have here a James Martin Pancake recipe quite similar to Lorraine’s aunt’s bacon and strawberry jam pancakes. Ok there is no strawberry jam in James Martin’s American-style pancakes, but nonetheless it encompasses the sweet/ savoury element that I enjoyed thoroughly.

Heat a large frying pan until hot, add the butter and heat until melted and foaming. Place ladlefuls of the batter into the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until bubbles start to form on top of the batter. Turn the pancakes over using a spatula and cook for a further minute on the other side. Remove from the pan and keep warm until ready to serve. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.

Meanwhile, heat a frying pan until hot, add the bacon and cook for two minutes on each side, or until crisp. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.

To serve, divide the pancakes among four serving plates, top with the bacon and drizzle with maple syrup.